Helen W. Nies
Helen W. Nies (August 7, 1925 – August 7, 1996) was a U.S. judge who served on the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and later on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and earned a BA from the University of Michigan in 1946 and a JD from Michigan Law School in 1948, graduating with Order of the Coif honors. She worked as an attorney for the Office of Alien Property at the Department of Justice (1948–1951) and as branch counsel for the Office of Price Stabilization (1951–1952). Nies practiced law privately in Chicago (1960–1978) and in Washington, D.C. (1978–1980).
She was nominated by President Jimmy Carter in May 1980 to the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals to fill a seat vacated by Donald Edward Lane. She was confirmed in June 1980 and served there until October 1982, when she was reassigned by operation of law to the newly created U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On the Federal Circuit, she served as a judge from 1982 to 1995 and as chief judge from 1990 to 1994. She took senior status on November 1, 1995, and died on August 7, 1996, in Lewes, Delaware, from head injuries after a bicycle crash, at age 71.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:58 (CET).